A fond farewell and new beginnings...

From allotment life to van life ...

“Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go”.

My name is Debbie, and you are reading A Simple Living Journal.  Navigating a part-time job whilst writing about all things simple living and slow living with a nature and seasonal vibe.

Hello my friend

Yesterday we said goodbye to our allotment.   It was an emotional goodbye but also a necessary one.   It seems quite fitting that it should happen right now, in Autumn, the season of letting go and making way for new beginnings.

We took on a plot at our local allotments just over ten years ago.  It wasn’t love at first sight, but it grew on us …. sorry that was bad I know!  The joy of being outside in nature and watching everything grow was the most rewarding aspect of allotment life. 

In the beginning, the plot had just a plum tree, a gooseberry bush, and a rickety old shed.  Nothing else except a huge expanse of weeds. 

It makes me smile when I think back to those early days.  We were advised to pull the shed down and replace it but we didn’t. It looked worse for wear I’ll admit, with a slight lean, and some panels and a window in need of replacing.  Perhaps we should have gotten rid of it, but with a little bit of love and care, the shed stood the test of time and is still standing to this day.  It kept us dry during rain showers, and we made it nice and cosy with a table set up for tea making, and a couple of chairs. 

We extended the shed by building a small pergola in front of it which made a great space to sit and watch over the allotment with a nice cup of tea.  Eventually it became the frame from which the grapevine grew up.  Perfect in the summer as it afforded us some shade from the evening sun.   As a south facing plot, it was difficult hiding from the sun. 

We grew a variety of different things.  Anthony was fond of making wine, and infused gin, so we put a lot of fruit bushes in.  We even tried making wine from runner beans and marrow once.   Interesting flavours, and undeniably different.  We grew vegetables too.  Among our favourites were parsnips, pumpkins, tomatoes. 

We take with us some fond memories of the allotment.  It has been an experience and an incredible challenge.  I hope whoever inherits the plot gets as much enjoyment from it as we did.  We will miss it, but it’s the right time to move on now, to make way for new adventures. Just as Autumn reminds us every year.

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A new beginning

A few months ago we decided we wanted to buy a camper van.  Ant and I, throughout our childhoods and into adult life, have done camping and caravan holidays.  Getting a camper van seemed a logical and natural progression.  We both love to travel and explore, and a van makes an ideal tool to fulfil our dreams.   

Over the last few months, we devoured lots of YouTube videos about camper life and finally in June we bought our van, our forever home on wheels.

Let me introduce you to Bella.  

She’s a beautiful black VW T30.  Named after our favourite wine “Arabella”. 

Bella The Camper

At the beginning of November, Bella is getting a full conversion. Until then, we are using her as a “camping van”.  We removed the back seats, so there is plenty of room for our camping gear and setting up the bedding overnight to sleep in. 

The conversion will include all the standard kit found in a camper, a bed, a kitchen including cooker, fridge and sink.  A heater, pop-top roof and solar panel.  A few bells and whistles too, plus ample storage.   The fit out should be complete within two weeks so by the end of November we will be ready to hit the road.  We are so excited. 

Since we bought the van back in June we have had a few trips out.  Including a week in the wonderful Derbyshire, camped up in a field overlooking Thorpe Cloud and the dales.  It happened to be one of the hottest and sunniest weeks of the year so far, so we were blessed with the most glorious of sunsets each night.

Before the van goes in for the conversion we are having one more week away in our happy place, Scotland.  Instead of heading north to the highlands, our second home, we are heading East, to Dunbar.  An area we haven’t explored much of before.  More about the visit in an upcoming blog right here on Substack.

If you have any recommendations on places to visit around that area, please do let me know in the comments below. Thank you.

So what happens next?

Gardening

As we are both keen to carry on growing, we will dedicate some of our garden at home to growing fruit and vegetables. Just enough that we can still savour the delights of home grown.  Nothing beats home grown does it? And just enough that we can look after in-between our travels.

Travel

As we are both still employed working four days a week, we are governed by a defined holiday allocation each year. Our plan is to use as much of our holiday for travel and exploration as possible, including long weeks away too.  

Slowing down

Van life will enable us to spend time doing the things that we are most passionate about.  Ant is a keen photographer, so he is eager to get out more with his camera and drone.  I will be spending more time writing on the road as well as photographing.  We are both avid readers too, and we have a long list of books we want to devour. 

Above all van life will give us what we most crave - a slower quieter life.

Thank you for keeping me company today.

As always, take care.

Until next time.

Debbie xx